


How To Swoon A Superhero

by lwielaura



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: First Kiss, Get Together, M/M, Steve is a fourteen year old girl, Team as Family, Unresolved Tension, everyone is done, unreasonable amount of pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 22:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7126381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lwielaura/pseuds/lwielaura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So he thought he would deal with it, quietly and for himself because he was used to not have all the nice and shiny things he wanted to have and Tony was most certainly the nicest and shiniest thing he would never have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Swoon A Superhero

Steve never had much and what he had, he learned to share. His mother had told him to make sure everyone around him had enough to survive and if that meant he spent nights awake because of his growling stomach, so be it, because he always had enough to survive and everything else was luxury.  
So his life had changed in many ways, first of all, he wasn’t that weird skinny kid from Brooklyn anymore, he was Captain America now and he could do so much more for the world to help beside sharing his bread with the homeless in Central Park. Second thing was, he had much more than he needed to survive. To be precise, he had much more than whole New York City needed to survive thanks to a bank account that was, unlike him, not frozen over decades and his very generous team mates, well, team mate, who not only offered them a place to stay but also a credit card without limitation. And the thing was, in this life he lived right now, he found the first thing he was absolutely unwillingly to share.  
It was probably because he was so used to not have things for himself that he needed almost a week to understand that feeling that had hit him so hard and wouldn’t let go off him no matter how hard he tried, was possession and it struck him every time he saw Tony being Tony, flirting as easy as breathing or side by side with Bruce, muttering and joking about things he wouldn’t understand in his lifetime anymore and looking so comfortable around him that it almost hurt because he had never seen him like this and although he was supposed to be happy for him, he felt bad because he wanted to be the one to give him that feeling and that he thought like this made him feel even worse.  
So he thought he would deal with it, quietly and for himself because he was used to not have all the nice and shiny things he wanted to have and Tony was most certainly the nicest and shiniest thing he would never have.  
Nevertheless he couldn’t help but feel a bit hurt when Tony entered the kitchen one morning, accompanied by Bruce, both men in a suspiciously good mood for this early hour, and the brunette just wished everyone a good morning, grinned and hummed a somehow familiar melody, grabbing a cup of coffee before he disappeared again, heading to the sleeping areas.  
And when Clint chuckled a bit into his confusion, muttering: “Damn, Stark has it really bad, hasn’t he?” Steve felt his chest clench with a surprising force and he had to excuse himself and he wouldn’t ever admit that he spent hours in his room afterwards, sulking and licking his wounds in silence.

Of course things didn’t go actually downhill from there. Things just went on like they ever did but Steve started to realize stuff and that somehow meant downhill for him.  
For once, Tony was a pleasant flat mate. Not that he had ever complained about the other man’s moods and funks and quirks and how he had to literally drag him out of his workshop to grab some food or get a healthy round of sleep that often was interrupted by an angry Pepper, yelling about irresponsibility and things left undone. But suddenly he really tried; he tried to integrate, to maintain a more or less healthy lifestyle, he even barely drank anymore, laughed and joked with them, still in an inappropriate matter but it was just so different that Steve couldn’t help but notice.  
And most certainly he couldn’t help but question again and again who that person was Tony tried to change for so badly, who could be important enough to leave his lonesome ranger attitude behind and become this, who would set him into a mood like this, he still had Bruce in mind, but on the other hand had Bruce known him for what he was and why should he change, except for… the thought of them being together and happy already made his chest clench like it shouldn’t have.  
Steve never thought Tony was even capable of not being his self-destructive self so he never bothered to change it because he often was angry with him or just devastated to see how little he gave about his own life but it never ever occurred him to change him because that was Tony Stark, his best friend and somehow the man he was head over heels for, so it just bluntly hurt him to see that there was a person in his life he was willing to change for.  
Heck, he even followed orders in the battlefield and if this didn’t mean something.  
So it was movie night and Tony was in the kitchen and actually made popcorn for the happily chatting team, except for Steve, who sat on his usual place with a forced smile on his lips because he couldn’t stand it even if he tried, because Tony seemed to be so happy and it was good whatever happened to him and he should be happy to see him like this and in some way he was, honestly, it was just so hard especially facing the fact that he was about to sit through a whole movie session on their usual places, right next to him, often close on close due to the overcrowded couch and he always enjoyed that closeness but now it appeared to be nothing but torture.  
“Ok, let’s get this party started. What are we watching?” Tony smiled and joined the room, carrying two huge bowls of popcorn in his arms of which Clint grabbed one promptly, shoving the snack into his mouth.  
“Bruce picked the movie.” He munched and grimaced and some of the chewed popcorn landed on his lap and Natasha next to him stared at him disgusted.  
“So it’s either Arthouse or a really weird romance.” Tony inferred and let himself fall down next to Steve, rolling his eyes and offering him the bowl.  
Steve managed a weak smile and helped himself just to do something with his hands and to have an excuse to avoid the man’s glance.  
“We’ve watched every Lord of the Rings in one session, you have no right to complain!” Natasha defended him.  
“Duh. Because they are a masterpiece and Stevie here hadn’t seen them before and being frozen for 70 years is so no excuse for missing monuments of modern culture.”  
“I would consider it an excuse.” Steve muttered and Tony grinned at him, ready for a new snarky comment, but Clint interrupted them.  
“Shush, let’s get over it, it really is a weird romance but you, my friend, lost every privilege to complain about romances, you lovesick teenager, get over yourself.”  
Steve froze, a few moments unable to breathe because there was something stuck in his chest how it seemed and his heart just refused to work for a few seconds, that he almost missed how Tony stuck out his tongue towards the archer and throwing popcorn at him and Steve couldn’t help but check Bruce who was smiling knowingly towards the TV.  
“Whatever, birdie.”

And the other thing was that nothing really changed between them.  
When Steve was alone in the kitchen one morning, preparing his breakfast, Tony entered the scenery, already in a suit and looking sharp and actually ready for a business meeting or anything and Steve thought: “Of course”, feeling a little bitter.  
“Morning, sunshine. Haven’t seen you down in my workshop for quite a while.” Tony smiled but it didn’t really reach his eyes and Steve bit his lip because now he even was polite enough to pretend he cared, to pretend he wanted him downstairs instead of just ignoring him although he would have preferred the latter.  
“No, I was busy. Also I didn’t want to interrupt you two.”  
“With what? There are no Nazis do defeat right now. And you’re always invited. Bruce isn’t that often down there, he sleeps so much, can you imagine?”  
“Why do you even care?” he didn’t mean to sound so angry but he had just kind of slipped and Tony, Tony physically flinched and he immediately felt sorry because the brunette tried, he really tried and he couldn’t know how he felt.  
After a small moment he blurted: “I miss you” and Steve stared at him with eyes wide of wonder but he could actually see the panic flicker in these brown eyes and how his usual casual mask built up again.  
“You do?”  
He shrugged, before adding: “Sure. Dumm-E actually listens to you, he likes you.”  
“Huh.” Steve muttered, not sure what to say.  
“Well, Cap, I need to go.” And he headed for the door, stopped next to him, making a hesitant and weird gesture, before he grunted and just left the room and Steve behind.

He didn’t know what gotten into him when he saw Bruce the other day, standing in the kitchen and making himself a tea, but the words just left his mouth without him having a chance to stop them.  
“Good luck.”  
Bruce looked up a bit irritated, question marks in his eyes and lips a bit parted.  
Steve cleared his throat, feeling a blush creeping up as he continued: “For you two, I mean, you are great together.”  
Bruce stared at him for a whole minute and Steve didn’t dare to look up, until the scientist replied: “You know about that?”, voice a bit cracked.  
“It’s very hard to oversee, you know.”  
Bruce’s hand found his way to his neck, rubbing it thoughtfully.  
“Natasha is great.” He began, still looking a little awkward. “I never thought I could land on someone like her, you know?”  
And Steve looked up bewildered, lips a bit parted and once again he couldn’t stop the words coming from his mouth: “Natasha?”  
Bruce answered his confused glance with a not less confused one and he could actually hear his brain working until his expression softened and his smile became a bit too understanding.  
“Steve…” he muttered fondly but the blond just turned around and left the scene behind and he knew that the color of his face would easily fit the Iron Man suit. 

The climax was reached the day he came home early from a pleasantly quiet shift, happy to be back in time for their board game night (Natasha had insisted) and to spend time with his sort-of-family.  
He had spent the last night in the workshop again, finally, after weeks of struggle and bitten down emotions he eventually mentally shrugged, telling himself that whoever it was Tony adored so obviously they had let him down and his friend probably needed some company and that weird conversation they had in the kitchen just strengthened his opinion about that and they spent the night like nothing ever happened except for his glance that was much too focused on the smaller one and that weird little dance his heart always did as he approached him and claimed his space around him, and he felt tired as hell and he considered taking a nap before he joined them, as he passed the kitchen and heard a muttered conversation and didn’t give it a lot of attention until he heard Clint’s words: “…just ask for a date, seriously, as if you would be turned down.”  
“It’s complicated.” And Steve froze in mid-motion, a few inches away from the doorframe, listening curiously.  
“It’s not complicated, Stark, you’re crazy about each other.”  
“I’m the one who’s crazy. This isn’t anything mutual.”  
“Excuse me, do you have eyes?”  
“Shut up, you don’t know shit.”  
Steve tried to shift his weight a bit but his water bottle fell down from his backpack and hit the ground with a loud bang and he closed his eyes because he was so close to know more, so close to finally solve that devouring riddle that kept him awake more that he cared to admit.  
He picked it up and because of the lack of opportunities he entered the kitchen, saw the smug grin on Clint’s and awkward panic? on Tony’s face.  
“Uhm, hi.” He managed and waved insecurely, avoiding the eye contact of the men.  
“Hi. I need to…” Tony croaked and literally escaped and Steve stared after him, a little hurt, because even if he wasn’t whatever Tony wanted, he still had assumed that the man trusted him enough to tell him what was going on, what was bothering, especially before Clint knew.  
“What?” he asked after he finally managed to look away and met the archer’s telling glance.  
The reply was a frustrated grunt. 

“Where’s Stark?” Natasha asked as she prepared the Monopoly board on the table and looked into the round.  
“He promised to attend.” Bruce assured and that seemed to mollify Natasha.  
“He’s probably still in his room, writing love letters.” Clint muttered and they all giggled a bit.  
How did they all know? Was Tony talking to everyone except for him or what was going on?  
“Who even is that girl Tony is so into?” he dared to ask because heck, something in him literally demanded to know.  
They all fell quiet and as he looked up, he saw the funny, even disbelieving glances everyone shot him.  
“What?”  
“Ok, let’s roll.” Tony had entered the room, clapping into his hands and taking the place next to Steve.  
“Sorry about today, I’ve got some nice new toys downstairs for you and made some adjustments to your shield, you should check it out later.”  
And despite everything Steve couldn’t help his smile, his natural smile he just managed when Tony was around and he agreed happily.  
“New toys?”  
“Spare the details.” Clint demanded and handed them their money to play and Steve felt his face becoming hot again because somehow his brain had decided to offer him some very explicit pictured on this matter.  
After one hour Bruce was bankrupted and Tony had bought his streets with his Mr-Stark-smile he always used to finish business, Clint was begging Natasha for the last remaining red street and Steve won the first price in a beauty competition, something that made Tony grin like he had just heard the best joke ever, after two hours Bruce was half asleep on Natasha’s shoulder, Clint had grabbed a knife since Tony threw money at them and Steve managed the second time to pass a side without landing on Clint’s hotels, something that caused a small breakdown. After two and a half hour the board was on the floor, Clint was yelling, Natasha had his arm in a weird angle and Bruce sat on the floor to which he had fallen in shock as his girlfriend had gotten up while Tony counted the huge amount of money.  
“Down with capitalism!” Clint yelled before he fell face-forward to the floor.  
“You in for a burger? I have two million dollars in cash in my pocket, let me show you the world.” Tony muttered and looked at Steve in a way he forgot to breathe for a second.

So they had a greasy burger at an even greasier food stand but it was better than any upper class restaurant because here they could joke and be themselves in a casual and easy space and Steve was once more amazed how easy it was to talk to Tony, how easy it was to be with him, to make him laugh and let go and feel complete but sometimes he caught him staring weirdly or open his mouth like he wanted to say something but Steve made sure to always cut him off because if he suspected something, everything would change and Steve didn’t want to risk that, he would rather suffer in the shadow of his growing feelings to have Tony around than for him to know and maybe losing him completely so whenever they reached that point, he changed the subject and Tony always looked both relieved and sad and Steve couldn’t have that.  
It was almost sad as they slowly headed home, Steve trying not to spill his coffee while Tony built small paper planes from his litter and threw them at irritated pedestrians and always managing to look innocent in time again.  
They passed the MoMA and Steve couldn’t help but throw his usual longing glance towards the large building, it was some kind of habit from his childhood because he had never enough money to afford going and then the war began and then he was frozen for decades and then he was caught in this wicked time and somehow he never went there.  
Deep in his thoughts he almost missed how Tony was frozen a few meters behind him and with a confused expression he looked around, throwing him a questioning look.  
“You want to go into the MoMA?” he asked casually, throwing another small plane and hitting a strict looking man’s hat where it remained.  
“I don’t know.” Steve began, “you said you would be busy and we don’t have to, I can go whenever I want to go, you don’t even like art and –“ he stopped as he realized the amused look in Tony’s face.  
“Come on, hot stuff, let’s stare at painted stacks of paper with a sophisticated expression.” And Steve felt his blush creeping.  
It was huge and full of wonders and Steve felt excitement floating through him whenever he recognized a painting, dragging Tony from decade to decade who actually looked a bit like he regretted the choice he had made.  
Still, he once again caught him staring whenever he was deepened into a painting from the corner of his eyes and he tried his hardest to ignore it but the prickling sensation he always felt made him feel warm and itchy and his breath faltered a bit.  
“I know you’re bored.” He dared after an hour as they reached the Van Gogh exhibition.  
“Actually I’m having the time of my life.” Tony replied and it didn’t sound as sarcastic as Steve had expected.  
“Really?” he asked amused, crossing his arms.  
“Yeah, I really like this one.” Tony muttered, pointing lazily at the frame in front of them.  
“I can imagine.” Steve giggled. “This is a fire extinguisher, you know?”  
Bemused the brunette blinked before he looked at the frame he had just claimed he liked and stared at the bright red extinguisher a bit disbelieving, before he actually blushed a bit and what, since when did Tony Stark blush, before he grinned a bit too casually.  
“I like how white underlines the red. And the orange warning signs are such a nice contrast. They are in the golden section, you see that. And uhm, the orange and white are what – complementary contrast?”  
Steve snorted so loud people looked around indignantly but Steve didn’t care.  
“You are ridiculous, you know that?”  
He wasn’t prepared for the desperate and dark expression in Tony’s eyes as another smile crept on his face.  
“I know that.” He simply said. 

One day later a very angry Pepper crossed his path as he was heading to the gym. Being wise enough not to ask her what Tony did this time, he was surprised to feel her small finger poking in her chest and she cried something like: “YOU” before she grunted, threw her hands over hear head and rushed away, muttering something like “I don’t get paid enough” before she left him utterly confused. 

“I need you advice.” Steve managed one day down in the workshop, trying his best to not sound like he had needed one hour to gather the courage to open this conversation and failing spectacularly.  
“Shoot, Captain Handsome.” Tony muttered, pushing off his goggles and staring at the small fragile thing he had just built.  
“It’s about dating.” He replied and faked casually so hard it almost hurt and he felt the heat in his face and his embarrassment even grew as he saw Tony loosing grip from the thing he held that shattered in thousand little pieced as it hit the floor.  
“I uhm… I don’t think I’m a good choice for that topic.” He choked, starting to gather the pieces and Steve was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t see his face during this process.  
“But you have quite a history… I mean –“  
“This was not dating.” Tony said and Steve started to regret that he even brought up this subject because of the suddenly small and untypical tone in his cracked voice.  
“Sorry, I didn’t –“  
“You should just ask her out.” Tony said, finally looking up and he felt his chest clenching as he recognized his Anthony Stark smile, the one the media loved and he himself hated and that didn’t reach his eyes that were full of defeat and acceptance. “Who would say ‘no’ to Captain America?”  
And before Steve could say anything to this, Tony was gone and he was so baffled because whatever he had expected, that wasn’t what he had hoped for. He wanted to get Tony’s advice to find the most unsuspicious way to lure him into a date, not to hurt him by bringing up his past relationships.  
After he remained shell shocked for a few minutes, he got up and followed the other man’s track back upstairs to find Clint and Bruce sitting on the couch playing a round Battleship.  
“Do you have any knowledge about why Tony just ran through the living room looking lie he would start to freak out any second?” Clint asked.  
“I uh… I just asked him for advice.”  
“Uhu, on what?” Bruce replied, looking up from the game.  
“About dating, I just…”  
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Clint grunted and his head hit the back of the couch with a soft thump.  
“I’ll handle this.” Bruce sighed, got up and left the room, leaving them behind, Clint still annoyed, Steve still confused.  
“What is the – “  
“Would you just jump each other, god dammit, this is pathetic. Really, I get headaches from the tension between you.”  
“What do you –“  
“God, don’t tell me you didn’t realize that Stark has a solid adult crush on you since forever and is driving us all insane?”  
“Clint, you –“  
“’Do you think Steve likes me?’ ‘I can’t ask him out’ ‘Does that dress make me look fat because I will wear it tonight to impress Steve’” Clint continued in a high-pitched girl’s voice without realizing his interruptions.  
“Do you mean -“  
“Steve Fucking Rogers, get your shit together and ask that man out before he goes full mad scientist. I mean it. If you two spend the night alone I’ll tape you together tomorrow.”  
Steve stared at him, not comprehending what he had just heard.  
His body reacted for him and he nodded in his dizzy haze and his legs started moving towards Tony’s room, brain still on lockdown and only functioning on autopilot.  
But as he wanted to knock on the door, it already opened and Bruce almost ran into him and as he realized who stood in front of him, he made a weird and probably concerning noise before he shot him a telling glance and disappeared, leaving him and the pale as a ghost Tony who stood inside his room, unsure what to do, alone. "Can we talk?" he asked and suddenly he felt his courage return, felt confident and strong and no matter what would happen, Tony had to know. Tony opened his mouth, closed it again before he broke eye contact and started to babble: "Sure, we can always talk, nice weather, isn't it, a bit fresh for the time of the year, but -" Steve had enough, with one determined step he closed the gap between them and he decided: “Screw this” before he pulled him closer and just kissed him. Steve was no man of words but he really liked poetry, always have, and he read about first kisses and how people can take your breath away but he always thought, just like art, all beauty was a lie and exaggeration was part of that but the way Tony’s lips met his and how they felt, he actually saw stars and felt a thousand fires burning in him. That was until Tony joined the kiss, became an actual participant and Steve just disconnected with his mind and body and just was here in a rush of feelings he never knew he was capable of having until they let go and the brown eyes stared at him wide in wonder but so full of love that he wondered how he could have missed that before. “I want you.” Steve said rough and desperate and tried to sound as sincere as possible and Tony stared and stared until realization finally hit him and suddenly Steve found himself in a tight hug.

Steve joined the breakfast table the next morning with a bright smile on his face. Clint stared at him until he grabbed his collar and pulled it down a bit, eyeing the hickeys Tony had left there (Steve was in such a good mood he didn’t even find that awkward, everyone could know), and nodded contended, grabbed the duct tape that laid on the table and threw it away while Bruce next to him rolled his eyes but he wore a fond smile as well.


End file.
